Misrepresentation of science by the Bush administration is unprecedented...

No, I didn't.

 

Then you're wrong.

But don't let that stop you from talking

 

Don't worry, thadeus. He's never discouraged, but at least I like his movie reviews.

Nomar, it's one thing to say "we have more important things than science to worry about," but it's another thing entirely to habitually say "well, this science result doesn't tell the public what we want to tell them, so let's doctor this report and rewrite the conclusions, and let's appoint people without credentials to oversee these processes as long as they agree with us."

Blech.

 

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Friday replaced two members of a panel that advises him on issues such as cloning and stem cell research, drawing criticism that he is stacking the bioethics group with ideologically friendly members.

"It does seem alarming. It concerns me profoundly," Marincola said of the move. "The president is trying to ensure the advice he receives is the advice he wants to hear."

-------------------------

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., was also critical.

"The American people deserve the right science, not right wing ideology, on critical issues facing their health," he said in a statement. "By firing two of the committee's most distinguished members, the administration is choosing once again the most divisive and ideological course, instead of seeking consensus."

--------------------------------

Blackburn told The Washington Post that she believed she was let go because her political views do not match those of the council's director, University of Chicago ethicist Leon Kass.

It's not the first time the White House has been criticized for wanting to hear mostly from friendly voices.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...0040228/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_bioethics_council

 

Jesus didn't take no science classes. Who cares what a bunch of pointy-headed scienticians think? They should stick to important issues, like whether or not the Shroud of Turin is real.

 

I know Liz Blackburn, though we are not close friends. (edit: deleting what I've heard 2nd hand about her reaction).

In my opinion, Liz is an incredibly fair and level-headed scientist, a kind and moral person. She is not at all some sort of "left wing whacko" or an activist. She is very communicative and socially skilled, as scientists go. She is also on a short list of names considered for the Nobel prize, and she was definitely a minority voice on this panel that Bush assembled. By minority I mean that she was: a woman, a scientist, and not extremely conservative.

This is disturbing. (edit: please note the following, regardless of political leanings. An award-winning cell biologist and a medical ethicist have been replaced by a pediatric neurosurgeon and two conservative political scientists. WTF. Now, on a committee deciding the future of stem cell research, you have no cell biologists, but oh boy, you've got a couple of conservative political scientists. Yippee. That makes sense, if you're a complete ass clown.)

Also, I saw Harold Varmus speak last night at a UCSF event downtown last night (Varmus is the former head of NIH, and he's one of the Nobel laureates that signed the letter that started this thread). He was very measured in his remarks, but did mention that the way to combat terrorism is to raise the medical and health standards of the third world, and that does not seem to be a priority of the current administration.

 

You gotta laugh to keep from cryin'.

 

Thank you, you just made my day.

Although this subject is both sad and infuriating. This, I think, should be on the front pages of every newspaper. Unfortunately, scientists just generally do not know how to talk to normal people and, as such, have no public persona/influence. That, and they always hurt America's feelings by trying to get it to think. For shame. So...uh....Mel Gibson's movie sure is groundbreaking and important for the whole world, right? Let's explore that more fully.

 

Damn, that is so on target. And depressing.

 

You're one in a million.